The Role of Accidents in Business Reading Answers

Feb 1, 2023

The Role of Accidents in Business Reading Answers contains sample answers about accidents that led to innovations. The Role of Accidents in Business Reading Answers has 14 different questions. IELTS The Role of Accidents in Business Reading Answers sample answers contains 3 types of questions: yes/no/not give, complete the sentence and choose the correct letter. Candidates are required to read the IELTS Reading passage and answer whether the given statement matches with the views of the author or not, write not given if it's not stated in the passage. Candidates are required to complete the sentences using correct ending for each answer from the given list of endings For the last set of questions, candidates are supposed to choose the correct letter from the given options. To gain efficiency and practice on diverse topics, candidates can undertake IELTS Reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

The Role of Accidents in Business Reading Answers

In 1894 Dr John Kellogg and his brother, Will, were supervising a hospital and health spa in Michigan. The patients were on a restricted diet. One day, the brothers left cooked wheat unattended for more than 24 hours. When they returned, they saw what they had done. It was no good to eat, but they decided to run the stale wheat through rollers, just to see how it would turn out. Normally, the process produced long sheets, but they were surprised to discover that this time the rollers created flat flakes. They baked them, and then tried the same thing with corn. From this accidental discovery came the corn flakes that generations have now been eating for breakfast.

Accidents happen; there is nothing predictable and orderly about innovation. Nobel laureate Sir Alan Hodgkin, who discovered how nerve cells transmit electrical impulses between the skin and the brain, commented: 'I believe that the record of my published papers conveys an impression of directedness and planning which does not at all coincide with the actual sequence of events.’

The same rule applies in business. The mistake that gave US cornflakes keeps repeating itself in the history of disruptive innovation, the kind that transforms markets. Louis Daguerre, for, instance, discovered the technique that gave US photography in the 1830s, when drops of mercury from a shattered thermometer produced a photographic image. The microwave was discovered when Peroy Spender, a scientist with Raytheon, was testing a new vacuum tube and discovered that the sweet in his pocket had melted. The artificial sweetener, saccharin, was the unintentional result of a medical scientist’s work on a chemical treatment for gastric ulcers. While working for the firm 3M, researcher Art Fry had no idea he was taking the first steps towards Post- It Notes when he used bits of adhesive office paper that could be easily lifted off the page to replace the scrap paper bookmarks that kept falling out of his hymn book.

Breakthrough and disruptive innovation are rarely driven by orderly process. Usually they come out of a chaotic, haphazard mess, which is why big companies, full of managers schooled in business programmes designed to eliminate random variation and mistakes, struggle with them. In these sorts of environments, accidents are called failures and are discouraged.

It is no surprise then that research from the late British economist Paul Geroski and London Business School’s Constantinos Markides found that companies that were skilled at innovation were usually not that skilled when it came to commercialisation, and vice versa. Their book, Fast Second, divides businesses into 'colonists’ and 'consolidators’. Small and nimble, colonists are adept at creating market niches but are terrible institution builders. Consolidators, with their strong cultures of discipline and cost control, know how to take clever ideas from other firms and turn them into mass market items. Microsoft is a prime instance of this.

With companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on research and development, US academics Robert Austin and Lee Devin examined how managers can encourage productive slip-ups. In their article Accident, Intention and Expectation in the Innovation Process, they argue that business processes actually prevent helpful mis-steps from occurring. According to their catalogue of accidents, not all false steps and mishaps are equal. Accidents, they say, come from unlikely mental associations such as memories and vague connections, looking for something and finding it in an unexpected way, looking for one thing and finding something else, and not looking for anything but finding something valuable.

Accident-prone innovation, they say, requires companies to get outside the ‘cone of expectation’. It means throwing together groups from diverse backgrounds, and combining ideas in unpredictable ways, other strategies also include having systems that watch out for accidents and examine them for value, generating them when they do not happen often enough, seizing all the useful ones, capturing their valuable features, and building on them to add value and give potential for useful accidents.

All this, however, requires thinking that is often counterintuitive to the way businesses operate. In other words, it is the kind of thinking that goes against the beliefs of most business managers. It runs counter to the notion frequently pushed by consultants that you can ‘harness’ creativity and direct it to line up with intention. ‘The cost of accidents business, people tend to call such efforts failure.’

There are tentative signs that more companies are starting to realise that failure can lead to commercial gain, and that this is part or the risk-talking that underpins innovation. Australia’s largest brewing company, for example, made a bad error when it launched a new beer called Empire Lager, pitched at younger consumers. Having spent a fortune creating a beer with a sweeter taste, designing a great-looking bottle and a television campaign, Foster’s was left with a drink that no-one wanted to buy. The target market was more interested in brands built up by word of mouth.

Instead of wiping the unsuccessful product launch, Fosters used this lesson learned to go on and develop other brands instead. One of them, Pure Blonde, is now ranked as Australia’s fifth-largest beer brand. Unlike Empire Lager, there has been almost no promotion and its sales are generated more by word of mouth.

Other companies are taking similar steps to study their own slip-ups. Intuit, the company behind financial tools such as Quicken, holds regular ‘When Learning Hurts’ sessions. But this sort of transformation is never easy. In a market that focuses on the short-term, convincing employees and shareholders to tolerate failure and not play it safe is a big thing to ask.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

The delay in the process used by the Kellogg brothers affected the final product.

Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: One day, the brothers left cooked wheat unattended for more than 24 hours. When they returned, they saw what they had done.
Keyword : brothers, left, unattended, returned
Keyword Location: paragraph 1, line 2-3
Explanation: According to paragraph 1, one day the brothers neglected a pot of cooked wheat for more than 24 hours. When they came back, they discovered what they had done. It was not good to eat. To see what would happen, they chose to put the stale wheat through rollers. They were shocked to learn that the rollers made flat flakes this time around instead of the usual long sheets. After baking them, they attempted to bake corn. The corn flakes that have been consumed for breakfast for many generations originated from this unintended discovery. Therefore, their invention of Kellogg's corn flakes was motivated by this delay in handling the wheat.

Sir Alan Hodgkin is an example of someone whose work proceeded in a logical and systematic way.

Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: papers conveys an impression of directedness and planning which does not at all coincide with the actual sequence of events.’
Keyword : convey, directedness, planning, actual sequence, events
Keyword Location: paragraph 2, line 3
Explanation: As stated in paragraph 2, Accidents occur; creativity is not a predictable or systematic process. Sir Alan Hodgkin, a Nobel laureate, said that the record of his works that were published gave the sense of direction and planning. It is not at all consistent with how the events actually happened. So, this proves that he did not proceed in a logical, planned or systematic way.

Daguerre is an exception to the general rule of innovation.

Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: Louis Daguerre, for, instance, discovered the technique that gave US photography in the 1830s,
Keyword : discovered, US, photography
Keyword Location: paragraph 3, line 3
Explanation: According to paragraph 3, Louis Daguerre developed the method that gave rise to US photography in the 1830s. It happened when mercury dripped from a broken thermometer and created a snapshot. Hence, Dauguerre was not an exception to the general rule of innovation.

The discovery of saccharin occurred by accident during drug research.

Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: saccharin, was the unintentional result of a medical scientist’s work on a chemical treatment for gastric ulcers.
Keyword : saccharin, unintentional, medical scientist, chemical treatment
Keyword Location: paragraph 3, line 7
Explanation: The unintended outcome of a medical scientist's study on a chemical cure for gastric ulcers is mentioned in paragraph 3 as being saccharin. This makes it clear that the discovery of Saccharin wasn’t intentional.

The company 3M should have supported Art Fry by funding his idea of Post-It Notes.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: The relevant information regarding the statement is not given in the passage.

Questions 6-9

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.

can be found in unusual thoughts and chance events.
can be taught in business schools.
has made a success from someone else’s invention.
is designed to nurture differences.
is unlikely to lead to creative innovation
says that all mistakes are the same.
shows that businesses are good at either inventing or selling.
suggests ways of increasing the number of mistakes

The usual business environment

Answer: F
Supporting Sentence: The same rule applies in business. The mistake that gave US cornflakes keeps repeating itself in the history of disruptive innovation, the kind that transforms markets.
Keyword : same rule, business, market, innovation, mistake
Keyword Location: paragraph 3, first two lines
Explanation: The same principle of accidents and invention holds true in business, as mentioned in paragraph 3. In the history of market-changing disruptive innovation, the mistake that gave the US cornflakes keeps happening. For instance, Louis Daguerre developed the method that gave rise to US photography in the 1830s.

Geroski and Markides’s book

Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: companies that were skilled at innovation were usually not that skilled when it came to commercialisation
Keyword : companies, innovation, commercialisation, skilled
Keyword Location: paragraph 5, lines 2-3
Explanation: As per paragraph 5, companies who were good at innovation were typically not that good at commercialization, and the opposite was also true. They categorise businesses as "colonists" and "consolidators" in their book Fast Second. Colonists are small and nimble, good at filling market gaps but poor at building institutions.

Microsoft is an example of a company which

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: know how to take clever ideas from other firms and turn them into mass market items
Keyword : ideas, firms, mass market
Keyword Location: paragraph 5, last few lines
Explanation: As per paragraph 5, consolidators are skilled in converting creative ideas from other businesses into products that can be sold to a wide audience. Microsoft is an excellent example of this.

The origin of useful accidents

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: seizing all the useful ones, capturing their valuable features, and building on them to add value and give potential for useful accidents.
Keyword : useful, features, building, accidents
Keyword Location: paragraph 7, last few lines
Explanation: Companies need to step outside the "cone of expectation," according to paragraph 7. It entails bringing together disparate groups and fusing concepts in unexpected ways. Having systems that monitor incidents and evaluate their worth is another tactic. Creating them when they don't occur frequently enough and grabbing all the good ones. Additionally, building off of their valuable traits to add value and create the possibility of beneficial accidents.

Questions 10-14

Choose the correct letter, A, B, c or D

Write the correct letter in boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet.

How do Austin and Devin advise companies to get out of the 'cone of expectation'?

by decreasing the number of company systems
by forming teams of different types of people
by hiring new and creative people
by holding regular brainstorming meetings

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: It means throwing together groups from diverse backgrounds, and combining ideas in unpredictable way
Keyword : throwing, groups, background, combining ideas
Keyword Location: paragraph 7, line 2
Explanation: As per paragraph 7, organisations must step outside the "cone of expectation" if they want to innovate in an accident-prone way. It entails bringing together disparate groups and fusing concepts in unexpected ways.

In recommending ‘counter-intuitive’ thinking, what do Austin and Devin imply?

that failing at business is bad for staff morale
that innovation cannot be planned for
that most businesses should be devoted to avoiding mistakes
that the cost of mistakes is an important consideration

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: requires thinking that is often counterintuitive to the way businesses operate. In other words, it is the kind of thinking that goes against the beliefs of most business managers.
Keyword : counterintuitive, businesses, beliefs, managers
Keyword Location: paragraph 8, lines 1-3
Explanation: It is mentioned in paragraph 8 that innovative thinking frequently goes against how corporations function. In other words, it is a way of thinking that is in opposition to what the majority of business managers believe. This goes against the idea that creativity can be "harnessed" and guided to align with aim, a notion typically advanced by consultants. People frequently label such attempts as failures due to the expense of accidents.

The writer describes the Empire Lager disaster in order to show that

success can come out of a business failure
the majority of companies now value risk-taking.
TV advertising works better on older people
young beer drinkers do not like a sweet taste

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: more companies are starting to realise that failure can lead to commercial gain, and that this is part or the risk-taking that underpins innovation
Keyword : companies, failure, commercial, risk taking, innovation
Keyword Location: paragraph 9, initial lines
Explanation: According to paragraph 9, there are hesitant indications that more businesses are beginning to understand that failure can result in financial gain. This is a component of the risk communication that supports innovation. For instance, Australia's largest brewing business erred when it introduced an Empire Lager beer targeted towards younger customers.

Pure Blonde has been more successful than Empire Lager because

digital media other than TV were used.
it was advertised under a different brand name.
it was launched with very little advertising.
the advertising budget was larger

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: Unlike Empire Lager, there has been almost no promotion and its sales are generated more by word of mouth
Keyword : empire lager, promotion, sales, generated
Keyword Location: paragraph 10, last line
Explanation: One of these, Pure Blonde, is listed as the fifth-largest beer brand in Australia in paragraph 10. Contrary to Empire Lager, there hasn't been much advertising, and word-of-mouth marketing is the main source of its sales.

The writer concludes that creating a culture that learns from mistakes

brings short-term financial gains.
can be very difficult for some companies.
holds no risk for workers.
is a popular move with shareholders.

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: convincing employees and shareholders to tolerate failure and not play it safe is a big thing to ask
Keyword : employees, shareholder, failure
Keyword Location: last paragraph, last line
Explanation: According to the last paragraph, this kind of shift is never simple. It's a hard ask to get workers and stockholders to accept failure and not play it safe in a market that prioritises the short term.